This article describes how to configure Basic authentication for one or more zones within a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 classic-mode Web application. A Web application is an Internet Information Services (IIS) Web site that SharePoint Server 2010 creates and uses. Zones represent different logical paths for gaining access to the network services that are available within the same Web application. Within each Web application, you can create up to five zones. A different Web site in IIS represents each zone. Use zones to enforce different access and policy conditions for large groups of users. To configure Basic authentication for one or more zones in a SharePoint Server 2010 Web application, use the IIS Management Console to directly configure IIS.

Basic authentication requires previously assigned Windows account credentials for user access. Basic authentication enables a Web browser to provide credentials when the browser makes a request during an HTTP transaction. Because user credentials are not encrypted for network transmission but are sent over the network in plaintext, we recommend that you do not use Basic authentication over an unsecured HTTP connection. To use Basic authentication, you should enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.